BUTTERFAT: OBTAINING, TYPES, COMPOSITION, USES, BENEFITS - CHEMISTRY - 2024

The butterfat is one that is removed from the milk, and corresponds to the portion known as cream, where most of the fatty component is concentrated. Its name comes from the word 'butter', which means butter in English, as this fat is the main raw material with which butter is made.

Depending on the moisture content of butterfat, it receives more than one name at a time, even varying from country to country. For example, in India it is known as Ghee, while in Egypt the word Samna is used to refer to it. Meanwhile, in the United States and other parts of the world, it is called Butterfat, because it is the fat in butter.

Butyric fat is the main component of butter. Source: Congerdesign via Pixabay.

Butterfat is often confused with the terms cream and milk fat, when in reality all three elements are essentially the same. The difference lies in how much water they have, and therefore, how concentrated the fat is.

To speak of butterfat is to speak of butter based on cow's milk, and therefore, of any product that has butter or cream in its composition, such as bread and ice cream.

Obtaining

Centrifugation

In this bottle you can see the cream (1) very rich in butterfat, and the milk (2). Source: Aleksey Pogrebnoj-Alexandroff / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

As butterfat is the fatty part or cream of cow's milk, and since it is also a colloid, it is necessary to separate its components by centrifugation.

In doing so, two parts can be observed: the one above should be the less dense layer of fat. In the lower one, the serum, more dense, where sugars and other substances soluble in water will be concentrated (upper image).

However, if the milk has not been homogenized, its fat can be separated by direct action of gravity, simply letting it rest for a day.

By removing the top layer, which has a creamy appearance, the butterfat is obtained, rich in milk lipids. But the nutritional properties of this fat, as well as its appearance, texture and flavor, vary according to the type of milk from which it is extracted, and consequently the type of diet to which the cow is subjected.

chopped up

Another way to obtain butterfat, but one that completely alters its usefulness and properties, is by cutting the milk by the action of an acidic substance, such as lemon juice.

Through this procedure, a curd is produced, which also has butterfat, but at a lower concentration as such compared to butter, and is also rich in protein.

Types of butterfats

Conventional and anhydrous

Depending on the cow's diet, some butterfats are healthier or more harmful than others. However, this whole set is included in what is known as conventional butyric fats, with different concentrations of moisture or water.

When these fats are completely eliminated from water, the so-called anhydrous or clarified butterfat is obtained, which is characterized by being the greasiest of all and the one that is best preserved over time, since it has almost no water it suffers less degradation caused by microorganisms.

Chemical composition

As might be expected, butterfat is essentially made up of lipids; however, their mixing is complex. This consists almost entirely of triglycerides, the majority of which fatty acids (60-70%) are saturated (palmitic, stearic and myristic), also having a marked composition (30-40%) of unsaturated fatty acids (oleic and palmitoleic).

Of the non-free fatty acids, 3% correspond to trans fat as a result of the presence of vaccenic acid.

In addition to triglycerides, butyric fats also contain monoglycerides and diglycerides, as well as cholesterol esters and phospholipids (lecithins, cephalins and sphingomyelins).

All this fat is distributed and dispersed in the milk in the form of globules, which are stabilized, that is, prevented from joining together and a layer of cream appears, by the action of a set of proteins and an infinity of compounds, salts and sugars. If not, the cream would separate from the milk undesirably quickly.

In addition to all the aforementioned, butterfat contains vitamins A and E, calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin and niacin, all of these components being the reason why it is considered a healthy food in its moderate intake.

Applications

Without butterfat, many desserts would not have their delicious characteristics. Source: Pixabay.

The butterfat content of butter is around or greater than 80%. The higher this percentage (82-84%), the butter acquires better taste qualities. When this content is less than 80%, we no longer speak of butter, but of milk creams or products with similar names.

Any product that requires the use of butter will therefore need milk fat, unless it is other types of butters, such as peanut and coconut. In this group of products we can count desserts such as cakes, cakes, donuts, breads and ice cream.

On the other hand, there are other derivatives of milk, such as curd and yogurt, which also have butterfat, but in a lower proportion, and which are also obtained by different industrial or artisanal procedures.

Thus, butterfat is also used to make fresh, ripened and processed cheeses, as well as in spreads and smoothies.

Benefits and harms of its consumption

There is a discussion between whether or not it is beneficial to consume butterfat, which in turn implies whether or not we should drink milk. Obviously, there are endless products based on butter, cheeses or yogurts that, due to their high sugar content, are harmful to our health, but the fat in milk, in itself, is different.

Although it has a remarkable composition of saturated fats, associated with heart problems, the benefits provided by its vitamin components (vitamins A, D, E and K) make it an excellent option for the health of the eyes, bones and the blood. Additionally, these vitamins act as powerful antioxidant agents that help restore tissues.

Of all the butyric fats, those obtained from grass-fed cows are, according to a study published by the American Journal Clinical Nutrition, the healthiest.

This is due to a statistical follow-up that relates a decrease in heart attacks, with people consuming more of the butter made with this "pasty fat".

References

1. Pulcinella Pasta. (January 28, 2017). Butter… & curd. Recovered from: pulcinellapasta.wordpress.com
2. Dra. Dª. Ana Maria Roca Ruiz. (sf). The fats in milk. Recovered from: lechepuleva.es
3. Wikipedia. (2020). Butterfat. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org
4. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (July 13, 2019). Butterfat. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Recovered from: britannica.com
5. Nellie's Kindness Crew. (2018). Everything You Want to Know About Butterfat. Recovered from: nelliesfreerange.com
6. Decker, Fred. (November 19, 2018). Butter Fat vs. Milk Fat. Healthy Eating - SF Gate. Recovered from: healthyeating.sfgate.com
7. Darryl David. (July 04, 2016). Butterfat or Milkfat. Darryl's Ice Cream Solutions. Recovered from: icecreamprivatelabel.com
8. Guest Contributor. (March 3, 2015). Why Grass-Fed Butter Is One of the Healthiest Fats on the Planet. Recovered from: ecowatch.com